Dog Lovers Shatter Online User's Belief That Black Dogs Are More Dangerous Than White Ones
50 Pets That Are Smarter Than The Average Toddler
These animals wear smarty-pants
Humans have evolved to be the championing species here on Earth. We communicate with each other in many different languages, we’re inventing wildly interesting and helpful technology, and we’ve even domesticated other living creatures with the purpose of companionship.
There are some animals that are arguably on par or close to human intelligence, like octopodes, elephants, dolphins, and a few others, but those typically aren’t considered domesticated pets. Then there are domesticated pets.
Psychologist and researcher, Stanley Coren, has discovered that the average dog is roughly as intelligent as a 2.5-year-old human toddler. Coren reviewed numerous studies to reach his conclusion that dogs have the ability to solve complex problems and are more like humans than we have previously thought.
These studies have shown that dogs are able to read cues, understand between 165-250 words, show an emotional connection to their owners (including emotions of jealousy), and can even do some basic counting and arithmetic! “There are three types of dog intelligence: instinctive (what the dog is bred to do), adaptive (how well the dog learns from its environment to solve problems) and working and obedience (the equivalent of ‘school learning’),” Coren shared in his study.
And it’s not just man's best friend that has higher intelligence than we once thought. Cats are also on par with dogs on many tests of intelligence, they’re just more fickle in their participation.
But, most people don’t research domesticated animals' intelligence. Most just have a companion relationship with our furry friends.
Maybe that’s what inspired Redditor Gearski to ask: “Pet owners of Reddit, what is the most intelligent thing your pet has done?” Their question invited countless stories from pet parents, and we collected some of the most interesting ones.
1. Cat purposefully broke a spray bottle that would be used against him when he misbehaved
My cat strategically broke the spray bottle we use when he’s being naughty.
He picked it up by the nozzle in his mouth, took it up to a high-ish shelf, and pushed it off to the hard wood floor below. Did this several times until the nozzle snapped off, ripping out a big chunk of the top of the bottle in the process and rendering it completely unusable.
I didn’t realize what he was doing until it was too late. Smart little demon -_-
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2. Stone-obsessed collie tricked her owners into thinking she didn't bring stones inside
My old collie cross always had an obession with stones. They chipped her teeth so badly, but she just loved them. We tried really hard to make her stop playing with them so we asked her to drop it before she came into the house from the garden. She had to be asked for a few days then she started doing it all by herself. We were so proud of how smart she was! However, we kept realising that she had stones in the house again and we had no clue how she got them into the house, then we figured it out. She put the stone through the cat flap, came in through the door without a stone, and then would go pick it up from the cat flap door! Unfortunately she passed away in June, but I'll always remember how smart and amazing she was 💖
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3. Rottweiler regularly outsmarted their owner
I used to have a Rottweiler who was scary smart. I would keep him in a big back yard with a chain link fence. As I learned from my neighbors, he would wait until I left for work and hop the fence. He'd roam the neighborhood causing trouble and even would stop at all the houses he knew someone might give him treats. He'd bug each house until he got what he wanted and then would jump back in the yard before I returned home. I never knew he was gone during the day. Finally one of the neighbors told me he watched the dog jump the fence as soon as I left and he'd jump back in sometimes just seconds before I returned.
Now that is pretty smart, but not as smart as this.
I bought a cable that attached to a big screw that I had to screw into the ground to secure the cable. This would keep him from the fence but he still had full mobility in the yard. This dog, he'd pick up his water bucket, Drag it to the big screw in the yard and dump it onto the big screw. He'd wait a bit and the water would soften the ground so he could rip the screw out. He'd hop the fence dragging the cable and screw. When he got out, he got the cable and screw stuck on the fence from the outside and was still in the yard when I got home. I had to secure it to the stout doghouse and shorten the cable so he could enjoy outside during the day without having free run of the neighborhood. He was quite the problem solver.
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4. Puppy figured out how to not get adopted away from their family
We had a litter and had one last pup to give away She was super friendly so we thought it would be easy, but every time we had someone over to look at her she would be super defensive and snap at people. We would then take her out and she said hi to everyone.
Apparently she saw all the other pups bond with someone and leave with them, and she had decided she wanted to stay .....
So my wife talked me into keeping her.
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5. Beagle learned how to distract their owners so they could get into the trash
My beagle knows really well what he is and isn't allowed to do, but he also knows that the scolding wont come until he gets caught.
He is awfully smart so he taught himself to bring us his plate when he is feeling hungry, same with water if he ran out and we didn't notice (He has set meals but he self regulates really well so sometimes we feed him a little earlier or later on his insistance), he opens and closes doors windows and fridge, pretty much its like living with a thumbless toddler. But his most impressive stunt was this one:
He used to go for the trash bin to steal food scraps (which is inside a cabinet that he knows how to open) but we always got to him on time, so he came up with a plan. He asked for food around his meal time by bringing us his plate, so that he was sure we were going to get it for him since it was his time to eat anyways. Doggy food gets stored in the back of the house, two rooms away from the trash bin. He would wait near the trash watching you until you went to pick him his food and then open the cabinet and dive straight inside the trash.
He did it twice until we figured out it was intentional and got baby locks for everything.
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6. Dog outsmarted an electric fence
My dog, 3/4 lab 1/4 husky, figured out how to beat the electric fence...it was a radius style and he'd walk circles around the house letting the collar beep until it ran out of juice, then he'd make his escape. He also figured out how to unlock the doors and bolt locks, and turn the handles to escape. We eventually just let him roam the town all day. He'd travel about 15 miles/day visiting his different friends and families, and come back at around the time we came home from school. He used to wag his tail so hard that his whole body wiggled, and to this day, years after he passed at almost 20years old, I still run into people who were friends with "Mr. Wiggles".
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7. Golden retriever knew not to be caught on the bed
That reminds me of a golden retriever I used to own when I had a waterbed. She wasn't allowed on the waterbed. Every time I came home, the waterbed would be covered in golden retriever hair, and undulating wildly, while she lay in her bed on the floor.
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8. Parrot learned to be passive aggressive
I taught my parrot to say thank you when he gets a treat, but the little s*it now passive aggressively says it to me when he is mad. I didnt know birds could be so emotionally manipulative
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9. Pup pretends to be physically hurt when they're feeling deprived
If my dog feels like she's been deprived of attention or treats, she'll pretend to be hurt and limp around. But she can't be too intelligent because sometimes she'll forget which foot is hurt.
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10. Dog peer pressured their owner into apologizing to their grandma
As a kid I had a female Spaniel name Lulu. She was extremely intelligent dog. Like she understood when you spoke to her. My grandma's brother was a professional hunter and this dog was an award winning tracker.
She was raised with me and we had a bond.
One time, I made my grandma very angry, the dog wouldn't let me touch her for 3 days, until I apologized to my grandma in front of the dog.
Damn dog peer pressured me into an unconditional surrender.
I miss her so much.
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11. Incredible dog sensed their terminally ill owner starting to pass
My mom had a horrible and untreatable type of cancer, but she didn’t want to go to hospice so we did in-home care instead. She had been bed-ridden and all but completely unconscious for several days, and we knew that she was going to go soon.
I was watching television and just being with her, when suddenly her dog (now mine) got up, started whining and looking directly at her. I immediately knew what was happening, called my aunt in from the other room, and we held my mom’s hand as she died just a minute or two later.
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12. Cat wasn't afraid to share their disdain for others music choices
My girlfriends cat likes black metal. A lot apparently. She's a pretty rambuncious gal, but if you put on Immortal or Behemoth, she sits in front of the speakers, lies down, then takes a nap.
I tried playing the Get Up Kids once. The cat slapped me, then hissed. She kept yelling at me until I put black metal back on. She then jumped back into my lap like nothing happened.
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13. Cat didn't let the lack of thumbs stop them from trying to plug in their beloved heating pad
My cat has a heating pad, she's seen my plug it in about 5 times before,so she tried to pick up the cord and run into the wall.
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14. Chicken figured out how to escape their run to get to the garden
My parents used to have chickens, one chicken figured out she could dig under the fence to get into the garden and eat all of the tomatoes.
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15. Dog remembered mean kid and gets revenge
Not mine, but my Dad’s dog is quite the smarty. His neighbor runs a daycare inside her house, and one of the little ones learned a very valuable lesson that day. My Dad let his dog out back to take care of his business. He started hearing him bark loudly and when to see what was up. His neighbor let the children out back to play, and one of them was jabbing a stick at the dog through the chain-linked fence. Kid stopped after my dad intervened. Later on that day, my Dad took the dog on his daily walk. Walking out front, a kid from his neighbor’s house was walking to his parents car. Guess which one... Dog recognizes him, runs up to him and knocks the kid on his as*. My Dad’s replies, “He remembers you.” Lol.
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16. Kitten knew their future owner was going to take them in
Turn up at my doorstep two years ago and refuse to leave until I let him inside and let him join the family. He was a persistent kitten, meowing at my door in the rain and sleeping on the doorstep for a week before I gave in.
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17. Pup can clean up after himself better than most people
When he was a puppy, he taught himself to clean up. We still kept him in a nice and comfortable cage back then so he had a place to go to when he was tired or overwhelmed. Every night he would drag all his toys with him into his cage, and every morning he would bring them back out again.
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18. Dog can open doors
My dog opens the door like a bloody velociraptor.
He actually turns the thumb turn lock and lets himself out.
Sometimes convenient but not when it’s cold and wet.
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19. Dog made a poop joke
I once saw my dog make a poop joke. He walked into our living room and stood in front of our older dog. Then he kicked his legs back like he had just finished taking a shit towards the older dog and looked around the room with a look that I swear was smug and self satisfied.
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20. Dog has set their own bedtime and demands tuck in
Every night between 7:30-8 one of my dogs stands at the bottom of the stairs and barks until you go upstairs with him and put him on the bed so he can go to sleep
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21. Dog would walk his human kids to and from the bus stop
My mom loves to tell us about her childhood dog who without fail would walk them to the bus stop every morning and then would meet them back at the bus stop when school was done
MELISSA NIXON
22. Miniature poodle learned the names of all his toys
We had a dog capable of memorizing the name of about fifteen of his toys. We just had to say the name of a toy and he was able to pick it up without hesitation. He was a 8 lbs all black miniature poodle .. he lived for 16 years.
DogsTrustIreland
23. Kitty helped alert owner to avoid a kitchen fire
I left a pot boiling a forgot about it. My kitty Ollie ran up to me, put his paws up and meowed a weird way. I was trying to figure out what he wanted. The handle already started melting and he basically saved me from a kitchen fire. He's a good boy.
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24. Dog tricked their owner in order to get a spot on the couch
I was really hungover one Sunday and was taking up the whole couch and wouldn’t let my dog up.
She went into the kitchen and started barking. Full on “something is wrong and we’re going to die” barking.
I freak out and run into the kitchen to see her pawing at the door. I open it and head out to see... nothing.
When I get back to the couch she has curled up in her spot.
She played me.
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25. Dog clearly communicated their desire to exchange toys with their owner
I had a dog (toy poodle) pretty clearly try to trade toys with me when I was little. I was playing with an action figure and he brought me one of his toys, put it in my lap, and nudged it forward with his nose all while staring at my toy.
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26. Pup learned how to distract visitors in order to hide their toys
If my brother’s dog is visiting my dog will pretend to need to go outside. This will excite my brothers dog into going outside. My dog will then stay inside and hide his toys/bones before brother’s dog comes back in.
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27. Cat figured out how to use a baby in its favor
The cat my parents had when I was a baby used to jump on my mum in the middle of the night when hungry so she started closing the door. But he noticed that when I cried she would get up and check on me, if he meowed by his bowl she would feed him. So he started jumping into my crib to wake me up then hopping out to wait by his bowl. No idea how long he did it for but it was all over when mum caught him one night still sitting in my crib.
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28. Dog learned to get a water bottle when they were thirsty
When my dog was out of water he'd grab a bottle of water from the kitchen, bite a small hole, and then press down with his paw and drink the water that was coming out.
I was accusing my husband of leaving half empty bottles of water all over the house and he was always blaming me. We finally caught the dog doing it, praised him for being so smart and bought a bigger dog bowl.
*Note-we no longer buy bottled water and we are very good about not letting the dogs run out of water.
gifer
29. Dog busted through a window screen to help their owner get inside
my dog constantly makes me believe she understands english. I can say something i’ve never said or trained her to respond too and she’ll do it. i’ll point and tell her to get her blue ball and she’ll do exactly that. now whether or not she wants to keep playing with the blue ball instead of the rope is completely up to her. most intelligent thing she’s done was the time i was locked out of my house and yelled “JUNO LET ME IN” and she busts through the screen on the window. coolest thing ever.
edit: dad wasn’t happy
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30. Kitty checks on her owner when they're on the ground
I have issues with my joints and my sense of propioception, and I fall sometimes. My cat, Mia, seems to understand that a fall not okay, so she runs up and “checks on” me if I’m on the ground for any reason. She’ll run up and headbutt me while meowing. The smartest part about it is that she seems to understand my words a little bit, because she leaves me alone if I tell her, “I’m okay.”
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31. Horse learned how to open her stall so she could go eat extra hay
I used to have a horse who lived to be 32. She was the sweetest horse ever, and her name was even Sugar. Anyway, when she was in her late 20s, she figured out how to open the stall doors. They had a latch that you had to lift up then pull to the side. She figured out to use her lips to lift the latch up then slide it out to get into the barn and eat the hay. We had to put clasps onto the latches to keep her from doing it. No other horse has ever done this that's we've had, and we've had a good number of horses over the years.
makeagif
32. Older dog helped calm their younger, anxious pup
My fiance and I have two dogs. The older one is extremely clingy and is always laying on or near one of us (usually me). He is also pretty stupid. Last night, the younger dog was having a pretty tough time. Panting, fast heart rate, etc. He is pretty anxious all of the time, and last night he was especially so.
The older dog, in a rare showing of emotional intelligence and sympathy, went over to lay on the other dog. Within 10 minutes, he had accomplished what we couldn't - the younger dog was calming down.
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33. Puppy shows that empathy isn't just a human concept
Dog was a puppy. My mother just found out her abusive uncle had died. She was flooded with emotions and broke down crying. I was downstairs with headphones on. Dog came downstairs and paced wildly around me until I got up, then led me upstairs. I opened the door and he ran in and laid down next to her and howled with her. Dogs and humans are coevolved. Empathy isnt a human concept
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34. Cat recognized a university mascot on TV
A long time ago I gave my cat this stuffed toy that looked like my local university's mascot. She rarely ever played with it and it was collecting dust in the back of my closet. One evening I'm watching a college basketball game with my parents and the next thing I know she brings out the toy, drops it right in front of the TV, and starts meowing nonstop. Impressive that she was able to associate the two.
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35. Husky was trained to ring a bell to go outside, and used it to help their untrained dog to go outside and come back in
My dogs are trained to ring the bell to go outside to go potty. I have two stories about them and their bell knowledge.
For the funnier one, we had gotten the red husky a birthday toy and she was playing with it. The younger one was clearly jealous. She went to ring the bell so we let them outside. The younger one basically zoomed outside and then immediately back in to steal the toy. This has become a regular move for her.
Sweet but depressing story. Before we got our youngest, I had an older black lab with the red husky. She had kind of started to go downhill and needed to go outside more often than the husky, but she had not been bell trained. My husky would walk over and ring the bell for us to take the lab outside to go potty. We liked to give her time out there, so we would leave her out for a bit and the husky would ring the bell to remind us to let her in. After we put the lab down, for weeks my husky would stand at the back door ringing the bell for us to let her back in. It absolutely broke my heart when she did this, and just writing it now is making me cry again. :(
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36. Dog with a stomach bug used the bathtub as a potty when their owners weren't home
My older dog got a stomach bug one time, and he never goes to the bathroom in the house. Well, I guess this time was the exception. He had diarrhea in the house, but instead of going all over, he climbed in the bathtub and went in there for easy cleanup! I wasn't happy, but it was sure as heck better than the alternative!
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37. Cat immediately proved their owner wrong
My dad was shit-talking my cat and calling the cat useless. So my cat scampered into the pasture next door, caught a rat, and dropped it on my dad’s boot. It was the funniest and most unbelievable thing I’ve seen and my dad still tells the story when his friends try and shit-talk my old man cat.
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38. Pet rats learned how to open their cage door
I had some pets rats and one of them figured out how to open the cage. He'd look me straight in the eyes, grab the door with his teeth and use his tiny paws to push against the frame of the cage and force the door open. Locks were needed after that.
I do miss having pet rats though, such smart animals.
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39. Terrier would hide his accidents under his food bowl
My parent's had a Border Terrier that was fairly clever, but one of the weirdest things he did was he knew that doing a poo in the kitchen was bad, (it happened sometimes when we were out) and always attempted to cover up the evidence with his food bowl. We would come back sometimes and see his food bowl upside down and know exactly what was under there.
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40. Kitten figured out a workaround to get where she wants to be
My kitten desperately wants to get under the sink, but she’s too little to open the door. So instead, she figured out that she can open a drawer next to the sink, crawl in, and turn left to get under the sink.
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41. Pup turned the tables on playing "fake throw"
Playing with my friends dog. Black lab, german shepherd mix. I started to "fake throw" the ball, which tricked her twice. On the third "throw" she just stared at me, so then I threw it for real.
After doing some acrobatic spazzy dog stuff (I tossed it into a tractor tire), she came back and I reached down to her mouth and realized that SHE FAKED BRINGING THE BALL BACK. Our group of friends went bonkers laughing in amazement that she had fooled us all so successfully, and to make it worse she snorted at me, got the real ball, and trotted happily past me after it all went down.
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42. Very good boy didn't need special training to sense oncoming seizures
My beagle/pit bull mix can sense my seizures and alerts me to them before they happen. He also gets my family if I'm having one and they don't realize it. One time I had a seizure in the bathroom and my parents didn't know until Chili started howling and throwing himself against the bathroom door.
We adopted him almost 3 years ago, and he has no prior training to alert for medical issues: he just knows. Most dogs have to be trained from puppyhood to be service dogs and seizure alert dogs, but not him. He's just a Very Good Boy.
gfycat
43. Pup learned how to ask for beef bones
I gave my last dog beef bones in the house but he had to keep them on a towel when he ate them. If I heard the bone hit the wood I would reprimand him and he'd pick it up and put it back on the towel, He got very good at making sure the bones never hit the floor.
He really showed his smarts on an evening when I wasn't planning on giving him a bone. He went into the back room and grabbed his towel, brought it to the living room, and spread it out in front of me before staring at me expectantly. I couldn't refuse him, he got a bone that night.
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44. Pup recognizes items and can "tell" time
One of my dogs can recognize items. Like the treat jar, the heated blanket. He will stand at attention in front of the item he wants. The treat jar is often in plain site and it’s not a constant thing so it’s clearly a “I would like one of those now” thing. Same thing with the heated blanket. He will stand in front of where it is on the sofa and stare at it until i turn it on. Then he’s toasty and happy.
He also can tell time. Yes they pick up patterns but he knows time. In typically feed them 630 am/pm. No matter what I get up, or what time I arrive home, at 6:29, he goes to where I feed him and stares at me intently. If I take too long, he will go to where I’m at, look at me, and then run back to where he eats. He also likes to go to bed at 900 pm. He will go to his crate, get settled and go to sleep. If we are being too loud or it’s past 10, he “huffs” at us. It’s not a bark, kind of like an exaggerated sigh.
He does not like unsafe walking areas? Mud? He must go around. Snow? He walks verrrrry slowly. Rain? Walk slow. Ice? Hell no. When it’s snowy or icy he won’t go out until he has seen me shovel the deck or put down dog safe ice melt. I joke that he was an OSHA inspector in his past life.
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45. Cat fished out a bit of debris from their fresh drinking water
I had just poured some fresh water for my cat, Quincy. There was a piece of debris floating around in the water. He took his wee paw and fished it out then continued drinking water, debris free. I got it on video and I cackle Everytime I watch it. The most cutest thing I’ve ever seen. He is a king, he doesn’t want tainted water.
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46. A cat that could open a fridge, and another that learned tricks faster than a dog
My cat learned how to open the fridge. A prior cat learned how to roll over on command from watching us try to teach the dog to do it. we would force the dog down a little after giving the command, and then give her a treat and praise her. The cat wanted in on this and saw her getting a treat for rolling over so he started to do it too. He learned how to roll over faster than the dog did.
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47. Pup learned to turn on the kettle
Before letting my dog out into the garden I usually put the kettle on so I can make a coffee on my way back, well now he has figured out how to turn the kettle on and does this whenever he wants to go out
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48. Older pittie figured out ways to get what she wants
We have 2 pit bulls... one is 14 and the other is 5. The older one will start playing with a random toy she doesn’t care about to trick the 5 year old into wanting it... so she can get the one he had.
Also, they’re not allowed on the couch... but at night, she’ll ninja her way down the hall and stand there listening to see if we’re asleep so she can sneak up on it.
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49. Pup retrieved their dog-sibling in order to get treats
I wouldn't give one of my dogs a treat since the other dog was elsewhere; I didn't want to play favorites.
So the sneaky little bastard leaves the room. Few seconds later, he walks back in, other dog trailing behind.
I got outplayed.
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50. Cat learned how to open blinds by watching their owner
I currently have a pair of cats and I am convinced they understand me to an extent. I'll tell them to "Not forget to eat their food" and they will go to their bowl to eat it, as if I've just reminded them of its existence. One of them the other day was trying to open the curtains by pawing at them vertically to get on the window ledge and I motioned with my hand how to do it, instead of the way she was currently doing it. She immediately copied me and nearly opened them, she now knew the correct method but just lacked the strength to do it.
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Intelligence is relative and varies greatly between individuals AND animals. So maybe if your beloved fur-baby doesn’t quite hit the same level of smarts as the stories, don’t worry too much.
What you should do is share your stories about your pet, whether they’re about how smart they are or how maybe they’re sharing a brain cell with every other orange cat, in the comments section below. We love hearing about your pets!
Kylin
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